LITTLE ROCK — A Hot Spring County man has been convicted of two counts of criminal mischief in the first degree following an investigation by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Law Enforcement Section. The convictions took place in Hot Spring and Howard Counties.
On June 28, James Barrett Hall pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mischief in the first degree in Howard County Circuit Court. This follows a previous conviction in November 2023 when Hall pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mischief in the first degree in Hot Spring County Circuit Court.
In 2022, Hall entered into an agreement to care for cattle brought from Texas. On January 7, 2024, special agents with the Department received a report regarding the loss of cattle due to starvation and lack of care.
Following the Department’s investigation, Hall was sentenced in the Hot Spring County case to 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. He received 20 years suspended imposition of sentence in the Howard County case, to be served consecutively with the Hot Spring County sentence. Hall was also ordered to pay a total of $126,000 in restitution.
The Department’s six law enforcement agents investigate agricultural crimes that affect any part of Arkansas’s diverse agricultural industry including wildfire arson, timber theft, livestock theft, agricultural and forestry equipment theft or vandalism, and foreign land ownership.
